Food Standards Agency
Sunday 5 July 2009
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Listen to this siteThe Food Standards Agency ensures that food safety is given high priority during the authorisation and monitoring of veterinary medicines.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is responsible for UK policy on veterinary medicines. The FSA monitors the activity of the VMD in relation to food and makes sure that the expert committees that give advice about veterinary medicines take full account of the public's concerns about the safety of food.
The Agency supports the use of veterinary medicines in the production of food as long as:
We believe that consumers have a right to expect that any residues that occur in foods should:
If a veterinary medicine residue that is non-compliant with the law is detected in food, the Agency is informed. The Agency is responsible for assessing any risk and taking appropriate action to protect consumers.
Back to topThe (External) Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). It regulates all agricultural and domestic veterinary medicines in Britain. Parallel regulatory arrangements are in place in Northern Ireland.
The (External) VMD’s main responsibilities can be found on its website here .
The VMD evaluates and processes applications for the approval of veterinary medicine products for use in Britain. It also regulates veterinary medicines in accordance with national and European law and guidelines. The (External) VMD has published a guide to marketing controls on veterinary medicines .
The VMD also operates (External) surveillance programmes to check that veterinary medicines are used correctly .
The VMD provides the secretariat for the independent (External) Veterinary Products Committee (VPC), which advises on the control of veterinary medicines; and the (External) Veterinary Residues Committee (VRC), which oversees a programme to monitor the UK food supply (home produced and imported food) for veterinary medicine residues. The FSA nominates a member to represent consumer interests on both of these independent expert committees and attends the committee meetings as an assessor. The VPC and VRC provide advice to the VMD, the FSA and ministers.
Back to topDownload pdf
(pdf 14KB)Find out all about veterinary medicinces.
This glossary explains some of the terms used in relation to veterinary medicines.
Nicarbazin Medicated Feed Additive Project The FSA has facilitated an initiative to identify ways in which the poultry industry can reduce the incidence and levels of nicarbazin residues in British chicken, and to raise awareness of this issue among farmers.
Veterinary medicine residues in food and drink in the UK are monitored through official surveillance programmes conducted by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and overseen by the independent Veterinary Residues Committee (VRC).
The FSA has considered various research into consumer attitudes on veterinary medicines.
The group has been set up to advise the Food Standards Agency on scientific and practical aspects surrounding the control of antibiotic residues in milk.
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